Run Away!

So our crate arrived, and we were up to our eye-balls in boxes.  Spring break came, and we expected to unpack, get settled, and catch up on all our reports.  Did we do that?  No. :)  We decided to run away. :)

The day before Spring Break began, we got an invitation from our area coordinator to join he and his family and on his team "retreat" at a hotel near the beach in Portugal.  Unpack dusty boxes or sit in the sun on the beach???... guess which one won out? :)  Yes, we packed up in a heartbeat and headed for the beach.

We were told it would take about 3 hours, but it was more like 5... lol... and that wasn't b/c of our kids!!! :)  It was a great trip, though. I think I was so happy to be away from those boxes.  We stayed 3 nights, 4 days in this place in Portugal.  It was beautiful!... cold, but beautiful!   I think we really, really needed the break.  It was just nice to be someplace sunny (we've not seen a WHOLE lot of sun here in Spain.  They say it's been the rainiest winter ever.)  It was also so comforting to go into a place and speak ENGLISH!  Everyone in Portugal speaks English... the signs are in English... it was nice.  My husband laughs at me about this one, but the streets are wide, too!  It is amazing to me how relaxing that was! lol.  The kids got to be silly and do nothing but play and watch movies.  They needed the relax time, too.

We went to several beaches, but it really was cold.  We never did swim, but the kids had fun in the sand.  We completely enjoyed being with the Actons and their team, as well.  Good old fashioned fellowship!  It was wonderful.  Thank you, Lord, for the time of rest! 

The Whirlwind

Oh, my goodness, Friends!  March was a whirlwind.  I'm sorry I hardly blogged at all, but it was sheer craziness in our family! :) 

One of my good friends from growing up passed away in the beginning of March, and I was just so heartbroken.  I think my grief was compounded by culture shock and the fact that I couldn't call any of his family or even hear about the funeral plans.  I felt completely cut off and useless.  I got the news during my 15 minute break when we went  to a cafe to get internet for a minute.  I was a mess.  (Please do pray for Mike's family... his wife and two small children, especially.) 

Then... I already wrote about Scarlett Fever.  That WAS crazy, but while the kids were all still sick, our babysitter for Carolina got an internship.  So without any notice (not that she could've helped it), we had no sitter!  It was stressful on top of ALL the kids being sick AND we had a bunch of paperwork fiascos going on.  At this point, that's too much to explain... there are SO many things you have to apply for and bring in and sign and blah, blah, blah... Wes was in the middle of that when we also got the news that the company we had been waiting on for 1 1/2 months couldn't provide internet for us.  Yeah, wonderful!  So, we were juggling all that, trying to keep our heads above water.  I think b/c we were (are) still going through culture shock, it was just hard.

So we are in the midst of all this craziness, and I decide I'm going to sit down for a moment of quiet "mundane" (that I so desperately needed) and write a thank-you note.  Wes had taken the boys out to "explore"... it totally get's out their energy from being cooped up in a small flat... and Carolina and I were home.  It had been so crazy that I had neglected to write some of these thank you's to people who had been so kind to us when we first arrived.  As I'm writing, my door buzzes from down-stairs.  I thought Wes had come back for something.  I only glanced for a second at the camera, and I buzzed them in, but...  it wasn't Wes.

Carolina and I opened the door, expecting "brodders!" and Daddy, but it was a strange man in a red shirt.  He said some things in Spanish and I only caught two words: furniture and things.  It took a moment to register: our crate had arrived!  I was thrilled!... and then I was panicked.  Did he mean NOW... like, right now?  So, I used one of the few words I know and asked "Aqui?" ("here?")  He nodded.  I had to clarify, "Ahora?"  ("now?") I still wasn't convinced that I had understood him correctly, so I asked him to wait a moment.  I picked up Carolina and walked out onto the balcony.  I looked over the edge and sure enough, there's a huge white moving truck parallel parked in front of our building.  (Now how in the WORLD this guy did that with these tiny, narrow streets, I have NO IDEA.)  Yup.  Our "stuff" was HERE,  NOW.

They were supposed to call and let us know when it was to arrive.  We are in a furnished apartment that we needed to "un-furnish" before our furniture arrived.  We crated couches, our ktichen table, bunk-beds, cribs, changing tables, etc.  Plus, it's only a 1200 sq. ft place with SIX people living in it!  What was I going to do?

I tried to call Wes, but he wasn't answering.  So, what could I do?  I wasn't about to tell the guy to go away.  I was afraid I'd never see my stuff again.  So, I told him to go ahead and bring it all up!  (I mean, how amazing! ...  they were bringing it up for us... we didn't even have to unpack that truck! :) No way was I going to complain. )  I pushed couches against walls and moved tables and chairs... we might not be able to move, but we were going to get our stuff!!!!!!!!! :)

Wes called me back a couple minutes later, and he had just heard from someone that our stuff was coming... yeah, thanks for the heads-up! :)  Wes came straight home, and we piled all our stuff into every corner of the apartment.  We literally could hardly walk around.  It was quite a fun experience with 3 energetic boys and a little girl just the right size to get into boxes! :)

One of the journey guys came over while they were unloading our stuff, and he called our Land Lady for us (since we can't speak Spanish yet.)  She was amazing, and made arrangements to come over the next day to open the storage unit for the extra furniture.  (She had to get the key from her sister who lives out of town.)  I stayed up all night unpacking all the boxes for my kitchen.  It had almost been a year since we had packed all the stuff, so I couldn't remember what I had.  This kitchen was fully stocked, so I had to pack up her stuff, so I could fit mine into the cupboards.  The thing was, I couldn't remember what I had and what I didn't have... so I didn't know WHAT to pack up.  It was crazy.  I had to open all my boxes to see what I had, so I would know what of hers to pack up.  And, I had to have it finished by the next day.  It was a long night. :)

Well, little by little, we have worked away at things.  It is slowly coming.  I'm sure those of you who don't really know me very well are getting a pretty good picture of my personality. :)  I don't function well in chaos.  ( I think I've made that statement before! :) )  All that happened right before the Easter break.  Here, they take their break the week before Easter, which we were looking forward to, so we could get things in order!!!  Whew!  Talk about a whirlwind!

What a Week!

This post was written on March 15, but not posted until now! Sorry!... "no internet" does that. :)

What a week we had last week! We started out the week in the Emergency Room with Jonathan. He had almost a 105 fever and a sore throat. Wes took him in, and of course we don’t know the language yet. I just have to say again that I’m so thankful for Wes’ adventurous spirit, b/c it didn’t phase him a bit to be in that ER and not be able to speak the language. He knew enough to get by, and they were very helpful to him. They prescribed antibiotics for Jonathan, and I had the joy of going to the pharmacy to get the prescription!

Carolina started next, so Wes took her in. It was the same lady at the front desk, which Wes was thankful for. She recognized him, and even remembered half of our address!! The next day, Weston and Nathan started. This time, our regular babysitter stayed with Carolina and Jonathan, and Wes and I both took the boys to the ER.

It was funny, when we walked in there, the lady at the front desk recognized Wes (of course). So, this time, she just looked at him with wide eyes and said, “How many kids do you have???” It was funny. It’s kinda weird the way they do things. Wes said that he saw a different dr. every time he went in. The one with Carolina was the best, I guess. This time when I went, the guy didn’t even do anything but ask us what the symptoms were. We did charades again (and yes, it’s hilarious to watch!!!), and only got ONE symptom (sore throat) described before he sat down and just started writing. He looked in their throats, but never touched them again. I mean, he didn’t take temperatures, he didn’t listen to their lungs, he didn’t check ears… nothing. It was a little creepy; but b/c I thought they had strep, I let it go (since I really didn’t know the language to argue, anyway!) He prescribed antibiotics for the boys, and that was really all I wanted. We know the symptoms of strep really well, so that’s what we figured it was.

Well, we were wrong. I can’t even remember what day, but Carolina started a bright red rash all over her body… Weston came shortly after that. We were in the midst of trying to fill out reports that were due, and get papers in for the different Spanish agencies that needed things. Since we still don’t have internet, and we weren’t going to class, b/c all the kids were sick (and it definitely took both of us to care for them!!!!... it was crazy!), Wes had to run out one day to send some reports (actually RE-send… don’t you love it when you think something is finished, only to find out that it was never received!? ☺… AND you have to GO GET internet to send it again!?!) Anyway, we were in the middle of this craziness and I found Carolina’s rash. It was really scary looking… AND I think it tripped me out a little that I didn’t even feel like I was in control to DO anything. I called Wes on our cell (which I’m not supposed to do, b/c we don’t have phones yet, and it costs an arm and a leg for the call…) and asked him to look up the symptoms of Roseola. I wondered if Carolina had that, b/c it was the only thing I could think of. I also asked him to look up the rash symptoms with strep throat and see what was there. He said he would, and would let me know when he got home.

Well, I also knew that Roseola only occurs in small children (like under 2, I think), so when Weston started HIS rash within hours of Carolina’s, I knew it wasn’t Roseola. When Wes got home, he told me it was Scarlet Fever. I had no idea that Scarlet fever is strep throat gone crazy with a rash! It definitely scared me. But, they were all on antibiotics, and the chart said that that was how you treated Scarlet Fever… so… I didn’t know what to do. I thought they were all on the mend; I mean, Weston and Nathan still couldn’t swallow, and they still had a fever; but I knew once their fever broke, their throats would be getting better. But then the rash showed up… yeah.

I think we had just been surviving. It didn’t occur to us to even call our colleagues (Joel and Angela) who live about 30 minutes away. When we were in the emergency room, they called Wes on his cell. Wes told him about the kids being sick, and they told us that our crates are IN PORT!! So, thankfully, we had some good news! I’ll write about that in our next blog. ☺

When Angela and I talked later, she suggested calling another couple who are missionaries with another organization in this area. They know a doctor who is saved, and she suggested we could ask him. I was so thankful for the support! Angela called Tim and Paula (the other missionaries), and they were wonderful. Paula called me and said she would come over within the hour with the dr. She would translate for us.

The doctor was AMAZING with the kids. He was so thorough and gentle. He checked everything… he even checked each child for Mono. He felt like they were on the up-swing, and that they would be ok. The dr. at the hospital had prescribed the wrong amount of antibiotics for Carolina, so he helped me figure out the correct dosage. I felt so much better after he left. He said the rash would go away… they would be fine.

It seemed like we were on the upswing, when I noticed Carolina’s fever come back just a little. Then her hands, lips and feet went purple. Again, it scared me. She had a fever, and usually a child’s lips and skin is hot to the touch, not cold. Her lips, hands and feet were freezing. I wasn’t sure if she was just really, really cold, or if she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. She was acting fine, though… but we decided to put her in a very warm bath to see if we could get her color to go back to normal. I know it’s the worst thing to do when a child has a fever, but I was a little freaked out by the purple…. PLUS, Wes was worried, and he usually doesn’t think ANYTHING is a big deal. ☺ So we put her in the tub with warm water up to her chest. She just loved it. Lol. She thought she was swimming, I think. ☺ I did notice when I first put her in, that her arms and legs seemed to be a little purple, but her trunk was normal.

After a little bit in the tub, her color did go back to normal. I wasn’t sure what to think, so I called Paula again, and she agreed it was strange. She called the dr. (since I don’t speak Spanish and couldn’t call him myself.) He even thought it was strange. He was concerned that maybe there was another infection that had come up in her lungs or something that the current antibiotics were not taking care of. He wanted us to watch her and wake her up through out the night to make sure her color was ok and to keep an eye on her fever. It was a long night. ☺

But, everything seemed to be fine. Her color stayed normal, and the next day her fever broke. I’m really not sure what it was, but the dr. came back to check her again. He was concerned. After examining her, though, he felt like she was ok. He told us just to watch her for the discoloration again and for the fever. Since then she hasn’t had another fever or any more discoloration. She did start her rash all over again… worse this time, though.

The boys are doing much better! Carolina is really doing ok… the rash doesn’t seem to bother her much, so that’s a blessing. It just looks really bad. Thank you all for praying for all of us! God has been very gracious. He has protected us and provided for us! AND I got a full night’s sleep last night! ☺